The Self in Early Christianity

HDS 1561 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

In conversation with Michel Foucault’s account of the complex relations between subjectivity and truth (and the importance of “techniques of the self”) in the ancient and late ancient worlds, this limited-enrollment seminar will explore various notions of the self in early Christianity. Focusing on the first four centuries of Christianity, we will investigate specific problems of theological anthropology (i.e., what it means to be human) that emerged for early Christian thinkers at the intersection between established modes of ancient thought and specifically Christian notions of scripture, creation, incarnation, resurrection etc. In view throughout will be questions related to the “hermeneutics of the self” that proved richly generative for the Christian tradition in its formative moments—and continue to animate the tradition today. This is a limited enrollment course. Please email the instructor (bdunning@hds.harvard.edu) with a short introduction including relevant background and reasons for wanting to enroll in the course. Students will be notified of acceptance before the enrollment deadline.